Big Pharma on rebound after tough week

ValBrickates Kennedy

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth and Merck & Co. were all on the rebound early Friday, as shares in the three major pharmaceutical firms bounced back from a string of disappointing earnings reports and lowered financial forecasts released earlier in this week.

The Amex Pharmaceutical Index
$DRG
edged up 0.2% to 317.06 and the Amex Biotechnology Index
$BTK
hopped 1.7% to 762.07.

Bristol-Myers
BMY, -0.03%
was the biggest gainer, with shares jumping 4% to $23.99. On Thursday, Bristol-Myers lowered its 2008 financial estimates while posting a narrower fourth-quarter loss. The quarterly results reflected a slew of charges in both the 2007 and 2006 reporting periods.

Wyeth
WYE
shares gained a point to rest at $40.01. Although Wyeth posted higher fourth-quarter earnings and sales, the company also said that 2008 revenue will be flat due to sooner-than-expected generic competition for two of its best-selling products, Effexor and Protonix.

Merck
MRK, +0.54%
shares were up fractionally at $46.21, despite reports that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston is probing whether the drugmaker illegally promoted its now-recalled pain reliever Vioxx for uses other than for what it was approved.

Merck's shares were rattled earlier in the week when it reported a fourth-quarter loss, due mostly to charges taken to settle Vioxx litigation. Sales were weaker than expected, and Merck also issued a 2008 earnings forecast that fell short of many Wall Street estimates.

Also weighing on the drugmaker, also said this week it has now been named a defendant in about 50 lawsuits over its cholesterol drug Vytorin. The product, which Merck co-markets with Schering-Plough Corp., grabbed headlines recently following the release of a clinical study that showed it wasn't any more effective in slowing the progression of heart disease than another popular drug that's now available generically.

Schering-Plough
SGP, -0.14%
shares were also on a roll early Friday, with shares jumping 4% to $20.33. The drugmaker will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb.12.

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